North Carolina adopts new Trump-backed US House districts aimed at gaining a Republican seat

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's Republican legislative leaders completed their remapping of the state's U.S. House districts on Wednesday, intent on picking up one more seat for President Donald Trump's push to retain GOP control of Congress in next year's midterm elections.

The boundaries approved by the state House aim to thwart the reelection of Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis, an African American who currently represents more than 20 northeastern counties in what's been the state's only swing seat. The state Senate already approved the plan in a similar party-line vote Tuesday.

Republicans hold majorities in both General Assembly chambers, and Democratic Gov. Josh Stein cannot veto redistricting maps under state law. So the GOP’s lines can now be implemented unless anticipated litigation by Democrats or voting rights advocates stops them. Candidate filing for 2026 is scheduled to begin Dec. 1.

Republican lawmakers made crystal clear that their proposed changes answer Trump’s call for GOP-led states to secure more seats for the party nationwide, so that Congress can continue advancing his agenda. Democrats have responded with rival moves in blue states. A president’s party historically loses seats in midterm elections, and Democrats currently need to gain just three more seats to flip House control.

“The new congressional map improves Republican political strength in eastern North Carolina and will bring in an additional Republican seat to North Carolina’s congressional delegation,” GOP Rep. Brenden Jones said during a debate that Republicans cut off after about an hour.

Black Democratic state Rep. Gloristine Brown accused mapmakers of purposefully diluting African American votes in her region with the plan.

“North Carolina is a testing ground for the new era of Jim Crow laws,” Brown said. “You are silencing Black voices and are going against the will of your constituents.”

Republican-led Texas and Missouri revised their maps. Democrats then asked California voters to approve a map in their favor. Jones accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom of ramping up the redistricting fight.

“We will not let outsiders tell us how to govern, and we will never apologize for doing exactly what the people of this state has elected us to do,” Jones said.

By exchanging several counties in Davis’ current district with another coastal district, Republicans have calculated based on election data that they can increase their dominance from holding 10 of the state's 14 House seats to 11, in a state where Trump got 51% of the popular vote in 2024 and statewide elections are often close.

Davis is one of North Carolina’s three Black representatives. Map critics argue this latest GOP map should be sued over as an illegal racial gerrymander in a district that has included several majority Black counties, electing African Americans to the U.S. House continuously since 1992.

“It is morally reprehensible and legally indefensible — and it will be challenged in court,” former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who heads the national Democratic Party's redistricting efforts, said in a news release.

Republicans countered that the redrawing was based not on race but on gaining political advantage, an allowable aim based on recent federal and state court decisions.

Davis, a political moderate, was already vulnerable — he won his second term by less than 2 percentage points, and the 1st District was one of 13 nationwide where both Trump and a Democratic House member was elected last year, according to the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

Davis on Tuesday called the replacement map “beyond the pale.” He still plans to run in 2026 if the map stands, his campaign spokesperson confirmed Wednesday — either in the 1st or the adjoining 3rd District represented by GOP Rep. Greg Murphy, a district also altered in the legislation.

Hundreds of Democratic and liberal activists swarmed the legislative complex this week and accused GOP legislators of doing Trump’s bidding through a speedy and unfair redistricting process.

During Wednesday’s debate, General Assembly police cleared the House gallery of dozens of protesters who disrupted the proceedings.

State GOP leaders say Trump won North Carolina all three times that he’s run for president and thus merits more GOP support in Congress. Senate leader Phil Berger called it appropriate "under the law and in conjunction with basically listening to the will of the people.”

Stein said in a video released Wednesday that passing the map was “disgraceful” and he would veto it if he could.

House Minority Leader Robert Reives warned Republican colleagues that one day they'd be targeted by the same Trump-backed GOP that's going after Davis should they fail to toe the party line.

"Mark this day because one day they’re coming to you, they’re going to ask you to do something that you just can’t do,” Reives said. “And because we have set the precedent that only one person in the party matters, you’re going home.”

__

Associated Press writer David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report.

Rep. Beth Helfrich, D-Mecklenberg, left, refers to a stack of public comments held by Rep. Julia Greenfield, D-Mecklenberg, right, during debate on a redistricting bill at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Rep. Pricey Harreison, D-Guilford, holds an alternative map as she speaks on a redistricting bill at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Rep. Gloristine Brown, D-Pitt, speaks on a redistricting bill at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Security clears the gallery after an outburst during a redistricting bill debate at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, speaks on a redistricting bill at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

A protester opposed to the proposed redistricting map is escort out by law enforcement during a House Redistricting Committee meeting Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Marchers proceed from the Capitol during a rally protesting a proposed election redistricting map Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

House Redistricting Committee Co-Chairs Rep. Hugh Blackwell, R- Burke, left, listens as Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, right, speaks during a committee meeting regarding a proposed redistricting map Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Marchers proceed from the Capitol during a rally protesting a proposed redistricting map Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Sen Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, speaks during a House Redistricting Committee meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Host Italy has a new contender in Alpine skiing with the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics three weeks away.

Giovanni Franzoni claimed his first World Cup victory on the famed Lauberhorn course in a super-G Friday — four months after his close friend and former roommate, Matteo Franzoso, died in a crash during preseason training in Chile.

The 24-year-old Franzoni — a former world junior champion in super-G, downhill and Alpine combined — was the first racer on course and took advantage of the No. 1 bib to deliver a near-perfect run.

Reaching a top speed of 140.44 kph (87 mph), Franzoni finished 0.35 seconds ahead of Stefan Babinsky of Austria and 0.37 ahead of downhill world champion Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland.

Franzoni handled the tricky Canadian Corner and Kernen S sections on the upper portion of the course cleaner than anyone else.

“I made the difference on the turn where I crashed a few years ago,” he said, referring to his season-ending fall in a super-G in 2023 that resulted in thigh surgery.

Swiss overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt, a four-time winner in Wengen, placed fourth, 0.53 behind.

The top American was Ryan Cochran-Siegle in sixth.

Franzoni also led both downhill training sessions and could be a contender in the classic downhill on Saturday. His previous best World Cup finish was third in a super-G on home snow in Val Gardena last month.

Now Franzoni will be among the leaders for Italy’s team in Bormio, where men’s Alpine skiing will be contested during the Olympics.

“If you had told me that I would be third in Val Gardena and then win here — on the two courses that I've had the most trouble on — I wouldn't have believed it,” Franzoni said.

The opening ceremony for the Games is scheduled for Feb. 6.

“I don't know about the future, but the present has changed," Franzoni said. "We always live day by day.”

Marco Schwarz, the Austrian who won the previous super-G in Livigno, Italy, last month, missed the race due to sickness.

Also sitting out this weekend is Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the Norwegian standout who returned this season after a horrific crash in Wengen two years ago.

“This year," Kilde said on Instagram this week, "it’s just a little too early.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Giovanni Franzoni of Italy takes a jump during the alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G race, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt reacts at finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)

Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen reacts at finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)

Austria's Stefan Babinsky speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Italy's Giovanni Franzoni reacts at finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)

Italy's Giovanni Franzoni speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)